stalling problem

[PACO]

Hello, I did search and found little to do with my specific problem.
The car is a 1998 240sx (KA) everything stock except for injen intake, hotshot headers and greedy exhaust. Its been running fine, but two weeks ago my wife needed to drive it to work. So, I filled it up with gas the night before. On her way home it stalled out twice. I drove it to work the next day and on the way home it stalled out many times. Most of these were at highway speeds and it feels like the rev limiter came on, it just died suddenly. It also did this at a few stoplights. Other then that, the car runs great, no hesitation or loss of power.
Everything that my friends or I could think of would cause the car to run like crap (MAFS, dirty throttle body or IACV, clogged fuel filter, or spark). I just did a tune up about 4 months ago, and the plugs still look fine. I was wondering if somehow it could be bad gas, since it happened right after I filled it up (I always use the same gas station and use midgrade) So I'm hoping for a little advice on getting it back running 100%. BTW I have an 03 frontier that I use as a DD, but want the 240 back. Thanks

[koukimonster139]

stop putting diesel in ur 240

[Garage Battle]

take it out and go run some errands with it. then take it to an auto parts store and pull some codes. if it comes up with a MAF code, then its this:

http://robfleming.net/mafrepair.html

dont get me wrong, it could be shitty gas, but take it to an auto parts store and have them hook the obd reader up. it takes a few times for a code to throw, but the ecu may have a 'non-lit' code.

[shift_drift]

My car did the same thing with a MAF reading low voltages. It didnt throw the code for the maf yet, so if you can I'd break out a voltmeter and compare the reading to what the fsm says. As soon as I replaced my maf, my problem went away.

[pbcstylez]

id almost like to say you have a tps problem, id first check your MAF tho

[PACO]

UPDATE
Alright, the ECU threw a code for the MAFS, so I bought a used one that the guy said was good. I put it in, cleared the code, and it drove great for about 20 minutes, so I took it home. I drove it to work tonite, and about 5 minutes into it it shut down again. THere are no codes now.

The wierd thing is after it stalls out, I'll put the key back to off and then try to start it again, but it wont. WHen the key is in the on position none of the dash lights (SES, airbag, etc.) come on at all, but the radio and the rest of the lights work. Eventually, the dash lights come back on and then I can start the car, but itll only run for a couple on minutes. Could this be a short somewhere?

I got so fustrated that I had AAA tow it home and had to call out of work.

[Z U L8R]

could be your ignition relay getting hot and shutting the car down, that could be why it takes a minute for the cluster to light up in ON position, it might need a little to cool down enough to click over and power up the ecu + everything else

[Canaduh]

Tighten your negative terminal on your battery. This happened to me alot when i worked at a used car dealership.

[danes]

Hey man I'm having the same problem with my 96 ka. I replaced the maf and it still runs like shit. If you come up with anything let me know pleeease

[PACO]

I just checked the battery cables - and theyre fine. I also looked at the ignition relay and it looked good.

[longdy]

it seems like you didnt check your ignitor chip!!!... try replacing the whole thing and see if that fixes the prob.

also did you check your
timing
tps
o2 sensor
and vac leaks
check to see if all your voltage is set properly....

good luck man....
-dee

[PACO]

i thought that KA's didnt have an ignitor chip? Or do you mean the ignition coil?

As far as everything else:

timing - good
tps - good
o2 sensor - good
and vac leaks - none
check to see if all your voltage is set properly.... - not exactly sure what this means?

[SR240DET]

Check everything according to the FSM. It gives you a list of stuff to check out and ways to test out the part.

If its mafs related then try this out if you have a few minutes and a soldering iron.

http://www.zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=139980[/QUOTE]

in the video im assuming he cut open the top of the mafs. The ideal way to go about this is to solder the contacts directly. If you dont want to hack up your mafs then my write up should get you back on the road in no time if its mafs related. Good luck

[Z U L8R]

you can't just look at a relay and see that it's good but anywho

find out what the car's losing that makes it die, is it losing injector pulse, or is it losing spark, then continue to isolate the problem

good luck,
Dave

[PACO]

Alright, after a lot of thinking and basic troubleshooting, I believe the problem is possibly with the ignition system.

Here is what I now think is the problem: When I turn the key to the 'on' position the dash 'warning' lights (SES, airbag, brake, etc.) are supposed to turn on, but they don't. All of the accesories will come on and work fine, including stereo, all lights, etc. What would possibly cause this?

This only happens after it stalls and after a few tries they come back on, and the car starts fine.

[Z U L8R]

start by eliminating easy things, like your ignition switch, check for 12 volts on the thick black with white stripe wire when the car is acting up and the key's in ON position.

[PACO]

start by eliminating easy things, like your ignition switch, check for 12 volts on the thick black with white stripe wire when the car is acting up and the key's in ON position.

I just checked the ignition switch wires, and the black with white stripe has 12 volts when the key is in the on position. All of the other wires also have 12 volts, except for the Black with Red stripe. I saw in an older post the that wire is the signal to the ECM, but that was for a S13 (not sure if S14's are different) Can anyone shed some light on this subject?

Also if the ignition switch is the problem, can I just replace the switch and leave the key cylinder part alone?